Nock Co. DotDash A5 Notebook and DotDash Notecards
Nock Co. is well known in the pen community for their variety of pen case offerings. I have seen and played with several of their cases at various pen shows, but I never had the chance to field test any of them. I recently spoke with Brad Dowdy, “The Pen Addict,” and requested some cases to try out and review. He graciously sent me a Lookout and a Brasstown, and he surprised me with a pack each of A5 DotDash Notebooks and DotDash standard notecards. I will be breaking these goodies down into a two-part review over the next week. Thank you, Brad, for sending these my way. If you would like to take a look at all of Nock Co.’s offerings, which I highly recommend, you can check them out at Nockco.com.For the first part of this review, I will be going over the A5 DotDash Notebook and the DotDash standard notecards.
A5 DotDash Notebook:The notebooks come three to a pack for $15 USD. The notebooks are filled with 24 sheets (48 front and back) of 60lb paper, which is bound inside of a 100lb French Paper Co. Chipboard Kraft cover. Both the front and back covers are a neutral beige color, and the front cover has the Nock Co. logo embossed. The pages are bound in the middle of the notebook and held in place with three staples. The DotDash pattern is printed in a lovely brown tone instead of the normal blue; I like this little difference and it helps make the pattern more visible. (Add cover photos, plane page photo) These are great for when you need more space than the standard “pocket size” notebook. I am using mine as a journal and keeping it next to my bed to remind me to write at night.
A5 DotDash Notebook:The notebooks come three to a pack for $15 USD. The notebooks are filled with 24 sheets (48 front and back) of 60lb paper, which is bound inside of a 100lb French Paper Co. Chipboard Kraft cover. Both the front and back covers are a neutral beige color, and the front cover has the Nock Co. logo embossed. The pages are bound in the middle of the notebook and held in place with three staples. The DotDash pattern is printed in a lovely brown tone instead of the normal blue; I like this little difference and it helps make the pattern more visible. (Add cover photos, plane page photo) These are great for when you need more space than the standard “pocket size” notebook. I am using mine as a journal and keeping it next to my bed to remind me to write at night.
To test out the notecards for feathering, ghosting, and bleed through, I used the same writing modes and nib widths: Pilot Blue/Black ink in a WingSung 3010 EF, a black chisel tip Sharpie, a rollerball with a Schmidt 888 medium cartridge, a Uniball Micro blue rollerball, a StorySupply Plot Point pencil, Montblanc Toffee Brown ink in an Italix Captain’s Commission medium, and last Organics Studio Ernest Hemingway in a Twsbi Eco 1.1 Stub. There was no ghosting or bleed through, even with the saturated inks and the thick Sharpie. The paper is very fountain pen friendly and I saw no signs of feathering with any of the inks.Overall, I am really impressed with both products. I wish I had these notecards when I was in college. If you are looking for a great thin journal to throw in your backpack or bag that will get along with pretty much anything you throw at it, I highly recommend the A5 DotDash notebook. If you need sturdy notecards that can stand up to everything from pencils to fountain pens to Sharpie markers, the DotDash Notecards will not disappoint.
